What is Burnes' sweeper situation atm? I remember seeing all those articles about him reviving much of his Cy Young success by adding a sweeper and throwing it more to RHH. Is he still using this pitch?
He broke the sweeper out after the all-star break last year because he was having issues with right-handed hitters (along with a sinker). And he basically ditched both at the beginning of this season. Super light sinker usage and has thrown maybe 3-4 sweepers in total. He's back to cutter+short slider and it's working. I was a bit surprised to see the reversion back to the "old" Burnes so to speak. Makes me wonder what the Orioles saw with him.
Very interesting. Seemed like analysts were attributing his comeback to the sweeper. Are his numbers this year against RHH closer to pre all-star, post all-star, or somewhere in between? And if he's maintaining post all-star success without the sweeper/sinker, why do you think that is?
His contact quality against RHH is slightly worse than the second half last year, but I don't think it's to the point of it being an issue.
Overall I would say he's maintained success, if not a slight decline. I'm not sure why they backed off the sweeper. The sinker was getting beat up early this year so they backed off that almost entirely in May. The Orioles also gave GRod a shorter slider this year. Must be something from an org standpoint that they like about shorter/harder shapes?
I think he's been able to right the ship even with the reduced mix because the slider/cutter command has been stellar. Perhaps he was dealing with something physically last year that didn't allow him to do be as sharp, thus the need for the sweeper and sinker. I'm not entirely sure, if I'm being honest.
Yeah, I think that's a fair theory, I could see it. I've wondered for a bit about how different fastball shapes interact with sliders (I'm including most cutters in the fastball bucket). Steele comes to mind. He's throwing a cutter basically for his four-seam and I'd be surprised if it doesn't have some effect on his sliders results compared to a pitcher who throws a better carry fastball with that same profile.
So perhaps Burnes is in the same bucket, where the cutter helps the slider play up, especially behind in count when guys are thinking hard and they don't get it. At the end of the day, the cutter and slider both grade really well, so it might be tough to separate the tunneling aspect from the pitch quality. I often think pitch quality is the biggest piece of the pie in almost all cases.
What is Burnes' sweeper situation atm? I remember seeing all those articles about him reviving much of his Cy Young success by adding a sweeper and throwing it more to RHH. Is he still using this pitch?
He broke the sweeper out after the all-star break last year because he was having issues with right-handed hitters (along with a sinker). And he basically ditched both at the beginning of this season. Super light sinker usage and has thrown maybe 3-4 sweepers in total. He's back to cutter+short slider and it's working. I was a bit surprised to see the reversion back to the "old" Burnes so to speak. Makes me wonder what the Orioles saw with him.
Very interesting. Seemed like analysts were attributing his comeback to the sweeper. Are his numbers this year against RHH closer to pre all-star, post all-star, or somewhere in between? And if he's maintaining post all-star success without the sweeper/sinker, why do you think that is?
Yeah I was one of those analysts hahaha
His contact quality against RHH is slightly worse than the second half last year, but I don't think it's to the point of it being an issue.
Overall I would say he's maintained success, if not a slight decline. I'm not sure why they backed off the sweeper. The sinker was getting beat up early this year so they backed off that almost entirely in May. The Orioles also gave GRod a shorter slider this year. Must be something from an org standpoint that they like about shorter/harder shapes?
I think he's been able to right the ship even with the reduced mix because the slider/cutter command has been stellar. Perhaps he was dealing with something physically last year that didn't allow him to do be as sharp, thus the need for the sweeper and sinker. I'm not entirely sure, if I'm being honest.
Yeah, I think that's a fair theory, I could see it. I've wondered for a bit about how different fastball shapes interact with sliders (I'm including most cutters in the fastball bucket). Steele comes to mind. He's throwing a cutter basically for his four-seam and I'd be surprised if it doesn't have some effect on his sliders results compared to a pitcher who throws a better carry fastball with that same profile.
So perhaps Burnes is in the same bucket, where the cutter helps the slider play up, especially behind in count when guys are thinking hard and they don't get it. At the end of the day, the cutter and slider both grade really well, so it might be tough to separate the tunneling aspect from the pitch quality. I often think pitch quality is the biggest piece of the pie in almost all cases.